Power driven shears



Mardi 8, 1932. u. F. L. sTEiNDoRFF ETAL 1,848,145

POWER DRIVEN SHEARS Filed nec. 2a. 1927 2 sheets-sheet l March 8, 1932. u. F. l.. sTElNDoRFF ETAL- POWER DRIVEN SHEARS Filed Deo. 28. 1927 v 2 ASheets-Sheet INVENTORS wf u .m S VL TTI mw A um. v

APaternal Mar. s, lv1932 l leans UNITED STATES PATENT -oFFlcE ULnrcH r. L. s'rnnmoarr,` orl Naw Yoan, AND eusravn A. Imaan, or Panam IANOB, NEW YORK v POWER DBIV'EN ASHEABS Application led December 28, 1957. `Serial No. $8,171.y l I 5 This invention relates to power driven shears of the type employed for the cutting of sheet materials suchy as metaLleather, cardboard or the like, and particularly to such type of shears in which the actionof the .cutting elements in performing a cut serves to impart a feeding of the work to the cutting edges of said elementsvv The invention relates more particularly to m shears of the type in which apair of relatively short cutting blades are arranged with their cutting edges at an an le to providean open throat to which the s eet material is fed, one of said blades beingA held stationary and the other being rapidly reciprocated to cause the moving blade to travel towards the stationaryblade to perform the.

shearing cut. As a result ofthe rapid.recipocation of the blade 'of this type of shears, especially when heavier materials are cut, the work is sometimes caused to be vibrated to an extent such that it isdiicult l for the operator to follow, with suiiicient ac- '.Lcuracy, the cutting line usually scribed 'on ''-"4 the material.` i f The object of the present invention is; to provide a new and improved device thatjvill eliminate this vibration, .which construction may either be incorpora-ted as a part of the original shears in the manufacture thereof, or which may be built as an attachment capable of being installed on an existing shears. f

Another object is to provide a new and im- 3'. proved construction of a device for minimizing distortion of the material .being cut due to the pressure exerted by the shears in performing the shearing operation.

. A. further object is to provide a construction in which the device is self or automatically adjusted according to the thickness of the. sheet material being cut.

These and other objects will appear more fully from the following more detailed description and by reference to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, and wherein Fig. 1 is a front elevation, showing a shears of the type hereinbefore referred to having attached thereto a pair of reaction supports made in accordance with the princishown ples of our invention, parts of said devicebeing shown in section; Fig.' 2` is a side elevation, partly broken away and partially insection, of the structure Shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 `is an enlarged detail of the pairof cutting blades showing somewhat diagrammatically the zone of cutting action and therelation of the reaction sup orts thereto;""Fig. 4 is a side view of a ro ler type shear showing an application of the principles of the invention to this type of shears, and Fig. 5 is a' front v.iew of the structure shown in Fig. 4. As shown by way of example in' Figs. 1 4to 3 inclusive, in which the invention is illustrated in connection with-a reciprocat-" ing shears, the shears comprises a pair of cutting blades 10, 11, the blade 10 being'stav 'tionarily held in any Asuitablesupport such as the frame arm 12, and the blade `11 being secured to a movable cutter or blade holder 13 driven by an eccentric throw 14 of a drive shaft 15, the latter being driven preferably f i' at a high speed `by any suitable source of power such as,4 an., electric motor not* l. The blade holder 13, drive sha p and electric motoriri the example shown, are mounted on the frame or base 18.5'`

It sometimes happens" with a shears of the type under discussion, particularly when heavier materials are being cut, that objectionable vibration of the sheet is set up, which vibration makes it very difficult to guide acf curately the sheet tothe blades in cutting to 4the line .usually scribed upon the work for indicating the outline'tobe cut. This vibration is caused largely by the fact that the moving blade 11 in performing a cutting stroke exerts a pressure against the work 19 which tends to rotate the latter in a clockwise direction as seen in Fig.2), about the edge 90 of the stationary blade, the latter acting as a fulerum. As the extent of reciprocation of the moving blade is relatively small the eX- tent of this movement of rotation imparted to the work is also small, but as the blade is reciprocated rapidly, the rapid succession of rotational impulses produces the vibration above referred to especially during the cutting of heavier materials which oii'er much resistance to the shearing action.

ft 15 76 f so l " bracket.22 is secured to the frame or base i8 lever is mounted.

and carries the pivot pin .21 upon which said Thelever 2O preferably extends parallel to the cutting blades and, for the purpose of permitting free movement of the work, its inner end is provided with a pair of rollers 23, 24, upon the periphery of which the lower face or surface of the work 19 is supported. The roller 23 is preferably located as close as possible to the moving blade 11 without contacting I with said blade or otherwise interfering with its movement, and the oint of engagement of roller 23 with the wor is located preferably approximately at the center of the effective zoneeof lcutting action of the blades. l-l i By the etl'ective'zone of cutting action of the blades is meant the length of the cutting edges thereof which perform a cutting action durin each stroke of the movable blade. By

' referring to Fig. 3, it will be seen thatthis cutting zone ofthe blades 10 and 11 is located between the lines A-A and B-B and that the axis of the roller 23 is located upon the line X-X which is approximately midway between the lines A--A and B-B.

Although a pair of rollers 23, 24 may be yemployed for engaging the upper face of the work sheet on the side of the cutting blades opposite to which the lower face of said sheet -er'ed by the lower rollers, we have found it better to use a normally fixed or stationary member instead of the rotatable rollers. Such a member as shown in Figs. l and 2 may be in the form of a casting having a plate 30 at the bottom thereof, and a pair of spaced, upwardly extending webs 30a. In the constructional example shown, a pair of bearing brackets 31 is rigidly secured to the frame arm 12, each of said brackets being provided with bearingsl 31a in which pivot pins'32 are mounted. Said pins serve as pivotal supports for brackets 33, each of which has an upper and a lower boss 33", 33b respectively. The bosses of each bracket are in axial alignment and serve as mountings for adjusting screws 34, 35. The upper ends of the screws 34, 35 are threaded for engagement with nuts 36 rotatably mounted in the upper bosses 33, while the lower 33b and terminate in reduced flattened tongues which extend between the webs 30 of the member 30. The reduced lower ends of the screws are pivotally connected to the meni- 'ber 30 by pins 37 which pass through the tongues and said webs.

Any suitable means, such as the knurled handwheels 38, which, as shown, are non-ro- 36a, may be provided for rotatlng the nuts 36 A' tatably secured to the nuts 36 b the set screws movement of one screw while the other screw remains stationary. The lower face of the member 30 is preferably covered with a mat 39 of leather or other suitable material to deaden noise.

It will benoted that the lower face of the member 30 is of curved contour in both directions, that is to say, both longitudinally and transversely. The longitudinal curvature permits the work to be fed readily to the blades while the transverse curvature ermits curved outlines to be cut more rea ily. The longitudinal curvature, as shown in Fig. 1, is preferably made substantially parabolic, so that when changes in the adplstment of the member 30 are made the low point of the curve will always be located approximately at the center of the cutting zone. The transverse curvature of the member 30 is also preferably substantially parabolic as shown in Fig. 2, the low point of the curve being located at the side of said member nearest to the cutting blades. Y

In cutting curved outlines experience has shownV that the best results can be obtained by inclining the work sheet to thehorizontal, in one direction or the other, according to the direction of curvature of the cut to be made. This inclination of the work sheet is per mitted, on thel one hand, by the transverse curvature of the plate 30 and on the other hand, by making the roller 24 slightly smaller in diameter than they rolls 23.

Spaced immediately below the member 30 is a supporting bracket or table 50 suitably secured to the base 18. The to of such bracket extends at an angle to the horizontal lane in which the work sheet will normally be held so that an open throat is provided between the upper member 30 and the table 50 into which the work may be easily fed to the cutting blades. The construction and arrangement of the table is preferably such that, as shown in Fig. 1, it forms a relatively small supporting surface for the work sheet which surface is located approximately in alignment with the effective cutting zone of the shear blades. ends of the screws fit slidably in the bosses As hereinbefore described the brackets 33 are pivotally mounted on the pins 32 so that, if for any reason it is not desired to use the anti-vibration member 30, it may be rotated upon said pins upwardly and rearwardly to 1 assaut 'rest in an out-of-the-way inoperative position upon the top of the framearm 12,` as

n order to lock the member 30 in The outer end of the lever 20 is pivotally connectedv to one end of a link 25, the other' end of which is ivotally anchored at 26 to any suitable fixe support such as the brac ret g ei'ectively resisted. As previouslydescri'bed 27 secured to the base 18. 1 l A The provison of the roller 23 not only prevents the objectionable vibration of the sheet, but also serves to reduce distortion or bend# ing of the sheet` by the shears to a minimum.-

In addition, the placing of the roller 23 close to the blades renders it possible to run a cutvery much closer to the edge of a sheet than would otherwise be possible. By using 'the roller, located as described. a cut' can readily be run along the edge of a sheet, the width of the material being removed by such cut being approximately equal to the thickness of the sheet.

While our invention has been described above in connection with a 'rapidly reci rocating blade, it is not limited in its app ica-v tion to reciprocating shears, but is equally adapted for use with other shears, Figs.' 4 and 5 showing by way of example, an application of the invention to a so-called rotary shears, which, as shown in these figures, consists of a pair of round discs, l, 11 placed in juxtaposition with their sharpened cutting edges slightly overlapping, and rotated in opposite directions by any suitable driving means, the work 19 being fed to thc cutters in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. so that the rotation of the cutters tends to pull the work inwardly against the cutting edges.

Shears of rotary type are subject to the objection that they cause a greater amount of distortion or bending of the work than ocx curs with the short stroke rapidly reciprocating type of shears. The application oi our invention to the rotary type shears overcomes this objection. As shown in' Figs. 4 and 5, in order to overcome this bending, two sets of rollers, each consisting of two pairs of rollers 23a, 24, are preferably provided, one set being placed to engage the upper face of the work 19 and the other set being placed to engage the lower face of said work. suitable means can be employed for mounting the rollers, as shown, the brackets 40, 41. in which are mounted the shafts 42. 43. for the upper and lower cutters respectively, are

6 provided with extensions 44, 45 having guide- Any ways 46, 47. Each of said` ideways has mounted thereina bearin b ock 48 which carries the shaft 49 upon w ich the rollers are* mounted. A spring- 50 is mounted between v each bearing block and the inner end lof its 'respective guideway and serves -to ,press'thel frollers against the work. It will 'be' noted lthat two pairs of rollers are mounted opposite to'l 'eachjotlier approximately midway of the cutting-zone',"onefpairgon each side of the '76 .Work and that -th'e 'other two pairs offrollers g are also-oppositely' located but'at a slight distance to therea'r ofthe cutting Vzone;V

Inpractice ythe reaction'supports occupy"l rigidly resistant operative positions in which .30

any tendency of the material 19 to vibrate i's with respect'to Figs. 1 and 2 andas"slio'v'im` therein, the reaction supportsmfay'bef'L ar-v ranged so to be capable of being swung to'an 35 inoperative out-of-the-way positionwhen for any reason this should be desired, as for instance when said reaction supports are' not re uiredy,

ile we have shown the` combination of a stationary member and one' pairof rollers with a', reciprocating shears for engaging the upper and lower faces of the work and a plu-A ralityofpairs of rollers in combination with' the rotary shears for engaging'both sides of 95 Athe work, it will be vobvious that the rollers and stationary members maybe used interchangeably with either type of shears.

It will also be'nnderstood that many other variations, changes, andmodifications of the 10 constructional details of the examples select- 'l A, ed for illustration may `also`be resorted to' without departing .from the. spirit --of'ourl j,

invention. g` d l` Weclaim:

l. The combination with a shearsff'orcut'- 1 i' ting sheet material and'having a pair ofcut-y ters, of a reaction support placed closely adjacent one of said cutters for engaging one side of the material being cut at a oint opposite to the other of said cutters t ereby to g prevent rotational movement about said eut' ters as a fulcrum'of saidm'a'terial due to the action-of said cutters,'and means for adjust# ing said Isupport, said reaction support be# ing provided with a roller for engaging said material.

2. The combination with a shearsfor cut'' ting sheet kmaterial and having a pair of cutters. of a leverpivoted to a. fixed support, 12

said lever having associated, therewith a roller for engaging one side of the material being cut and a device for adjusting said lever to cause said roller to be pressed into engage- 12 ment with said material. y l

jThe combination with a power driven shears for cutting sheet material'comprising a pair of cutting blades, of 'a react-ion support independent of the cuttin'gblades-and located in a rigidly resistant operative position adist jacent to one of said blades and engaging a small surface area of one side of the material approximately in alignment' with the center a line of the zone of the effective cutting edges and a rotatable supportin memberr located adjacent to lthe other of said bladesand engaging aV small surface area ofthe other side of said material also in alignment with said center line. Y l

4. A combination as set lforth in `claim o in which the stationary reactionV support comprises a plate like member the work engaging surface of which is curved both transversely and longitudinally.

5. A combination as set forth in claim 3 in which the stationary reaction support has a work en a in surface the contour of which considere ot longitudinally and transversely is approximately arabolic.` v

6. The combination wit a power driven cutting shears including an up er blade and' a movable lower blade adapte to cut sheet material and having a frame, of a reaction support normally located -in a rigidly resistant operative position for engaging the upper surface of the material adjacent to t e` cutting blades of the shears, said support be Iof one side of the material approximately in alignment with the center line of the .zone of the elective cuttingV edges and a rotatable supporting member located adjacent to the ot er of said blades and engaging a small surface area the other side of said material also in alignment with said centerline and a' 'y covering mat havin sound deadening proplerties secured to sai .support `for direct contacting engagement with said material.

l0.' The combination with a power driven shears for cutting sheet material and having a frame and a pairv of cuttin blades, of a pair of brackets secured to said rame, pivot pins carried by said brackets, a second pair of brackets pivotally mounted on said pins each of said second brackets having mounte therein an adjusting screw anda material engaging member pivotally secured to the ends of said screws for movement to and from the material.

In testimony whereof our hands.

` I Y ULRICH F. L. STEINDORFF.

f j GUSTAVE A. UNGAR.

we have hereunto set ing pivotallyA connected to said framey for l movement to and from said operative or material engaging position from and to an inoperative,

out-of-the-wayl osition.

7. The combination wit a ower driven cutting shears including a stationary upper blade and a movable lower blade adapted to cut sheet material and having a frame, oi a y reaction support normally located in a r1g1dl; resistant o rative position for engaging t e upper su ace of the material adjacent to the cuttingv blades of the shears,A said support being pivotally A connected to said frame 'for' movement to and from said operative or material engaging position from and to an inoperative, out-o the-way position and means to lock said support in its operative position against ivotal movement.

8.1The combination wit a ower driven cutting shears including a stationary up er blade and a movable lower blade adapte to cut sheet material and having a frame', of. a reaction support normally located in a rigidly; resistant o erative position for engaging t e upper sur ace of the material adjacent to the cutting blades of the shears, said support being pivotally connected tosaid frame for movement to and from said operative or material engaging osition from and to an inoperative, out-o -the-way position7 means to lock said support in its operative position against pivotal movement and means to adjust it to and from the material.

9. The combina-tion with a power driven shears for cutting sheet material and having a pair of cutting blades, of a stationary reaction support located adjacent to one of said blades and engaging a small surface area 

